What you should be able to do
Design tools and skill instructions that are narrow, testable, observable, and safe to call from an AI workflow.
CapstoneDefine a tool-use workflow for editing documents without leaking private data.
Turn model output into reliable action
Skills and Tool Use
Skills are reusable instructions, code paths, or tools that let an AI system perform work with more consistency than free-form prompting.
Observe
Plan
Call tool
Check result
Stop or continue
Concepts to master
- Tool contracts
- Input validation
- Prompt and instruction hierarchy
- Permission boundaries
- Human review points
Builder path
How to turn this topic into a working project.
Use this as the bridge from reading to implementation. The goal is to build a small, inspectable version before adding frameworks or production complexity.
- Start with one narrow tool contract and document when it should and should not be called.
- Validate every argument in code before execution, including IDs, enum values, permissions, and tenant boundaries.
- Log tool calls, arguments, validation errors, observations, and final answers for review.
- Add reusable skill instructions only after the workflow is stable enough to test repeatedly.
Primary sources
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